SBIR-STTR Award

In our Phase I effort, we propose to develop a concept that addresses radiation hardening techniques for electro-optical sensor and electronics unit subsystems. This development will demonstrate feasibility of the concept to be incorporated into the BMDS architecture to provide reliable operation for its projected mission life. We will conduct research and analysis efforts to identify, investigate, and demonstrate unique electronics designs, test methods, and test hardware to mitigate the effects of radiation environments. This concept has merit to provide reliable operation of BMDS interceptors in perturbed environments consistent with high altitude nuclear bursts or prolonged natural space radiation. We will determine feasibility of inserting hardening and/or evaluating radiation hardened sensors using proposed concepts without significantly impacting sensor mass, cost and producibility. We will develop an experimental approach that demonstrates the radiation hardness capability of the concept. We will provide some initial modeling and analysis to support our conclusions. Our approach would be practical implementation with the existing Sensor HWIL capability to demonstrate our proposed concept.

Keywords:
Radiation Effects, Radiation Hardening, Sensors, Electronics, Test Methods, And Hardware-In-The-Loop

We will develop/implement test methods to assess the performance of Ballistic Missile Defense interceptors in the presence of natural and man-made radiation environments. At the conclusion of Phase II, MDA will have a functioning hardware-in-the-loop capability to test the kill vehicle electro-optical sensor, signal/data processors, and flight software. This facility will support testing of current kill vehicle designs and future upgrades that include hardening techniques and radiation mitigation algorithms. The radiation effects will be simulated by projecting a structured clutter scene to the kill vehicle sensor and injecting spurious noise between tactical component interfaces. Our approach will provide an upgradeable capability that includes radiation effects models with realistic mission-based scenarios. By augmenting an existing hardware-in-the-loop facility, radiation environment testing will be accomplished through an incremental, cost-effective manner. This will provide a significant savings over the development of a new testing facility devoted exclusively to radiation environment testing. Testing methodologies will also be documented including test planning, test preparation, post test analysis, and post test reporting/archiving. This project will expand the technology base to support development of future interceptor upgrades that can be incorporated into the BMDS architecture to provide reliable operation against evolving threats and countermeasures from adversarial nations.

Keywords:
Natural Radiation Effects, Man-Made Radiation Effects, Sensors, Electronics, Hardening, Survivability, Test Methods, And Hardware-In-The-Loop.